


Wool's Orphanage

by Kat_Riddle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Before Hogwarts, F/M, Wool's Orphanage (Harry Potter), Young Tom Riddle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-22 12:11:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15581721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Riddle/pseuds/Kat_Riddle
Summary: Chara Bolton was left at Wool's Orphanage when she was just a few months old. She has been living there ever since. Chara likes being alone and does not have many friends but upon realising that she and Tom Riddle have some special things in common, she wants to spend more time with him.(All the rights belong to JK Rowling except for a few original characters)I'm sorry if my writing sucks. This is my first story and English is not my first language.I also want to add a small trigger warning for depression, self-harm, violence and abusive relationships.





	1. Halloween 1927 (Prologue)

 

 ****It was the last day of October, a cold cloudy night. The children were finally in bed after a long day running through London. It was silent in Wool's Orphanage, which was something that didn't happen often. Mrs Cole, a skinny and sharp-featured woman, was walking towards the entrance because she had just finished looking after the children that weren't even a year old. After an exhausting day, She just wanted to go home as soon as possible when she heard a knock on the door. Why would somebody go to the Orphanage to ask for candy? She didn't like the concept of this tradition anyway and it was soon to be midnight, so who would go out this late? It took her a while to get to the door.  
"Isn't it a little late..." she stopped talking when she realised nobody was on the door. But looking down, she noticed a box filled with blankets and some blue eyes staring directly into hers.  
This wasn't something unusual, it actually happened quite often at Wool's Orphanage but all the other children had cried when they were found. Mrs Cole took the box and noticed a piece of paper which said  
"Chara  
Born: 2rd May 1927"  
Looking back at the child, she wondered why someone would want to get rid of such a beautiful baby. The little girl didn't seem difficult to handle either, a stranger had just picked her up but she still wasn't crying. Mrs Cole was always interested in the reasons why parents would leave their child behind but they never found out.  
After informing the Matron about the new arrival, Mrs Cole went upstairs with the child that still wasn't making any noise, to put her down with the other young children. There were only a few cribs left and she decided to put Chara next to the only child that also never seemed to cry. Tom Riddle. He was born here in the orphanage and Mrs Cole had helped. It was one of her worst memories, Tom's mother died after birth and Mrs Cole still thought of her pale face sometimes.  
Now that her shift was truly over, Mrs Cole finally stepped out of the door into the cold foggy night and noticed that it was extremely dark outside, she looked up to see the moon but there were too many clouds.  
She may be very exhausted because of the children but she really enjoyed working at Wool's Orphanage.


	2. Halloween 1934

Seven years had passed since Mrs Cole had found Chara on the front step and the only thing that had changed in Wool's Orphanage was Mrs Cole being Matron now. It was a rainy day, but that didn't come as a surprise as it had been raining nearly every day in October. Chara woke up to the sound of Mrs Cole's voice, she was yelling at some children for being too loud. It was very cold in Chara's room, she didn't want to get out of bed even though it wasn't comfortable at all. She forced herself out of bed anyway and got dressed quickly. Looking at her little pocket watch, which she kept under her pillow, she realised that she still had an hour until breakfast. Last night she had finished the new book she got for free from a nice old bookshop owner and she wasn't sure what to do now. Chara only owned three books and she had read the first two books many times, so she decided to read the new one again. It was some kind of fairytale and Chara wasn't really in the mood for it right now but it was better than reading the other two books again. The chair she was sitting in made a noise whenever she moved and the desk was unsteady, that's why she preferred to draw or write on the floor. After she had read the first chapter, Chara wanted to look at the time again and was about to walk over to the bed when she saw the watch right in front of her on the desk. How did it get there? She didn't remember putting it there. Deciding that she must have taken it with her when she got up, she put the watch into her pocket. It was great to be able to tell the time, she had learned it a week ago. Mrs Cole tried to teach it to many children but most of them didn't get it, that was why Chara wanted to bring the watch with her to breakfast, she liked showing others that she was more intelligent than them. At least more than most of them. The one guy who always seemed to know everything better than her was Tom Riddle. That didn't bother her, actually, she wished she could talk to him more but he always avoided everyone. She couldn't judge him for that though, she did the very same. But he seemed to despise everyone, Chara just never knew what to say or do when she had to be in the same room with other children. She would try to act normal and ask the other children if they wanted to play with her but after a day of playing games with others, she needed to be alone. It was tiring. She definitely preferred being alone.  
Miss Lester, a new staff member, brought Chara out of her thoughts by ringing a bell and shouting "Wake up everyone, breakfast is ready in 15 minutes". Chara quickly tangled her long, black hair, checked the mirror only to see that she was even paler than normally, grabbed the new book and ran out of the room, she wanted to be one of the first children to pick where to sit. She always picked the same spot: right at the end of the table next to a window. There she would not have to deal with too many other children but she would not sit all alone either. Chara also liked to bring a book to breakfast, lunch and dinner because she always finished eating way earlier than the others and then she would read so she wouldn't be bored. No one was allowed to get up before everyone was finished.  
Entering the food hall she noticed that 7 children had already chosen their seats and someone was sitting on her beloved spot! Sometimes Chara herself found it ridiculous that she could get extremely angry over stuff like this but she was storming towards that person determined to get her seat back. The other 6 children, on another table, started whispering, they were excited to see what she would do. When Chara finally reached the end of the room she recognised Tom Riddle the be the person sitting on her seat and stared at him in shock, the others started laughing. Tom had never really done anything to her but there were rumours that he had hurt some of the other children. Everyone was a little scared of him. Tom was staring back at her trying not to smirk.  
"Why?!" is all she could manage to say. Tom had an annoyed look on his face now "Why what? Can you speak in full sentences?"  
Chara started to get even angrier."Why are you sitting here? This is where I always sit, everyone knows that!"  
Tom seemed to be a little surprised that Chara would talk to him like that but hid it quickly. "Well, I got tired of my corner near the entrance and I like this seat better because it's next to the window. Also, we don't really have a seating plan here so this seat isn't yours just because it's your favourite. I was here first." Just as she wanted to think of a witty comeback, Chara noticed that more children had arrived and everyone was watching them. Her face started to heat up, she didn't like this much attention. Chara just wanted to turn her back on Tom when he said: "Why don't you sit down next to me?"  
Chara couldn't hide how surprised she was. She sighed "Sure, why not."  
When all the children had taken their seats they were allowed to start eating and everyone was talking to their friends, some laughing so loud they were shushed my Mrs Cole. Chara thought this was finally an opportunity to talk to Tom and after she had finished most of her breakfast she asked awkwardly "So... are you excited about Halloween?"  
He didn't even look up from his plate "Not really." Chara starred at him for a few seconds "Why not?"  
"Don't you find it pathetic to ask strangers for candy?"  
"Well...yes but on Halloween, it's okay I think."  
"Hm...it's the day they found you, right?"  
Chara swallowed the last bit of her breakfast and looked at Tom surprised. "Y-Yes, but how do you know that?"  
"Don't you think about why your parents abandoned you, especially today? I assumed you hate Halloween." No. She hadn't thought about it until now.  
"Well do you hate your birthday because you are the reason your mother is dead?!"  
Oh no. She had gone too far. Chara's heart started beating faster.  
"Oh god, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to ... I shouldn't have..." she said ashamed.  
Tom acted calm and looked directly into Chara's blue eyes. "It is not my fault that she was too weak to survive childbirth." He kept staring into her eyes without blinking even once. Chara started to get scared of him, she tried to find the right words but she just didn't know how to respond to that. They kept staring at each other for a few seconds, Tom looking quite threatening and still not blinking. Then he just continued eating like nothing had happened.  
Chara started to think about Tom. She didn't know anything about him besides that he was born in the orphanage and that his mother had died afterwards. She also knew that "Marvolo" was his middle name because some children had made fun of it behind his back. They never did it again though. After that the rumours about him hurting others started.  
But Chara knew nothing else about him even though they had been living together in this scabby orphanage for 7 years. They had never played together or even talked more than a few words although his room was across the hallway, Tom's room was number 27 and her room was 28.  
Chara snapped out of her thoughts because Betty and Amy, who were seated next to her, started giggling and she noticed that she was still staring at Tom. Her cheeks turned a little red and she grabbed the book she brought with her and started reading chapter two.  
"I didn't know you could read" Tom said with a smirk on his face. Chara was a bit confused, she never thought he would start a conversation again. "You know, not everyone here is as stupid as you think they are."  
"I have to disagree."  
"Well, we can't all be as intelligent as you are."  
"Um...thank you?" Tom started to grin.  
Great. She didn't mean to compliment him. Chara wasn't good at witty comebacks.  
"Whatever. Do you read a lot?"  
"Yes." He stopped grinning and his face went back to expressionless. " I hope they get us more school books soon, I'm tired of reading my 5 books over and over again."  
Chara was excited that they finally had something in common.  
"I hope so too! I have only 3 books and this one is new, I'm reading it for the second time now."  
"What's it about?" Tom asked uninterestedly.  
"It's some kind of fairytale with magic and sword fights and -"  
"Do you like it?"  
"Yes, actually my favourite part comes up in this chapter, it's where she meets Prince Charming but the best thing is that she doesn't know it yet, she'll finally discover that it's him in chapter three!"  
Tom was obviously judging her now.  
"So it's a love story." He said the word 'love' as if it disgusted him and before he took the last bite of his breakfast he added: "Sounds boring."  
Chara was about to say something when Mrs Cole spoke up.  
"It's time to clean up. I want everyone to bring the dirty dishes into the kitchen. It's room number 11 to 20's turn to do the dishes this week."  
Tom was already walking towards the kitchen when Chara turned to look at him.


	3. A Magical Game of Hide and Seek

After Breakfast, Chara didn't feel like reading anymore. She also didn't want to be stuck in her tiny room all day so she decided to go outside, even though the sky was still depressingly grey it had stopped raining. The door leading to the backyard was wide open and Chara could already tell that many children had started playing catch because she heard them arguing about whose turn it is. Today was a good day. Chara was in a good mood, classes were cancelled because of Halloween and she even felt like interacting with others. Betty and Amy sat next to each other on the swings, giggling and whispering into each other's ears, as always. No one else was on the playground, well it wasn't really a playground because it had only a set of swings and a sandpit but everyone called this corner of the backyard 'the playground'.   
Chara walked over to Eric Whalley, who was obviously hiding from Billy Stubbs behind a big bush. He was startled when she tapped him on the shoulder. "WHAT? Shhh" he put his finger on his lips "We are playing hide and seek"   
"Yes, I can see that. I want to join in, is that okay?"  
"Sure after this r-"  
"AHA! I found you!" Billy yelled, running towards Eric and Chara.  
"That's not fair! It's Chara's fault!" Eric yelled at Billy, pointing to Chara.  
"I-"  
"It's your turn! New players always have to be seeker!" Eric interrupted her. Chara decided not to start an argument.   
"Well, who else is playing? I have to know who I have to find."   
"It's only me, Eric, Walter and Barbara." Billy answered   
Chara just put her hands over her eyes and started counting to 30 out loud. Through her fingers, she could see Billy getting behind some bushes next to the playground.   
They played a few times, with a lot of arguments in between rounds due to Chara and Billy never agreeing on the rules, then decided the next round would be the last one because they would be called to lunch soon.  
It was Billy's turn and Chara desperately wanted to win this round. She looked around, Billy had already counted to 15 and was starting to count faster, when her eyes fell on a few trees next to the wall that separated Wool's Orphanage from another big building. She quickly ran over and started to climb up the most hidden tree, while making sure Miss Lester, who was overseeing the children today, couldn't see her. Though Chara immediately regretted that decision because the few leafs this tree still had were wet. She started watching Billy from above, he found Eric first, who hid in some bushes yet again. Chara was getting bored, so her mind started to wander.  
She wasn't really enjoying this game of hide and seek. Billy was annoying especially when he was losing. The only guy Chara hated more than him was Dennis Bishop because he was always so mean. He used to make a lot of jokes about Chara's parents abandoning her until Mrs Cole told him to stop. Betty said that he is mean to her because he has a crush on Chara but she couldn't understand the logic behind that. Everyone was always talking about who has a crush on who but Chara really didn't care about things like that. She never had a crush on anyone.   
She tried to avoid thinking about her parents but especially today she wondered why they brought her here. Chara didn't really care about finding them or knowing who they are, she didn't know them and she will never. They didn't want her. Maybe they were too poor to care for a child. Well, she would never know the answer. Of course, sometimes Chara wished they hadn't abandoned her but not because she wanted a family desperately, like many children here, but because she hated this place. Wool's Orphanage. What a sad little place to grow up in. Everything was so loud, she disliked so many children here and the place was scabby and nearly everything was falling apart. Most of the other children were almost obsessed with finding out who their parents are, but some children were here because their parents died.  
A sudden hissing noise made her snap out of her thoughts. Chara looked down to see someone sitting next to the tree she was currently sitting in, but she couldn't recognise them. Looking over to the other side of the backyard Chara noticed that Billy had found everyone except her. The hissing continued and it almost sounded like words. Chara wanted to see who the person was and started to climb down a little but she had forgotten how wet the wood was and slipped.   
"Ahh-"  
Time seemed to slow down as she was falling, she closed her eyes, waiting for the pain of hitting the ground. But it never came. Chara was confused, she couldn't feel anything. She slowly opened her eyes and was even more confused.   
She saw grass. The ground was right in front of her but gravity seemed to have stopped working for her and she was floating just a few centimetres above the grassy soil. She was amazed. This feeling was great, it almost felt like flying, as if she didn't weigh anything. Chara only remembered there was another person present after he started speaking.  
"This-this can't be- I'm not- this is not- I'm not doing this!"  
Chara stopped floating after she recognised Tom Riddle's voice and hit the ground. She looked at him in shock.  
"Please-PLEASE don't tell anyone about this!" she begged, still not quite believing what just happened.   
"I-how did you-I thought I was the only-" he stopped himself and glared at her, he seemed angry. Chara didn't understand why and slowly got up.   
"Pl-" she started.  
Tom sighed. "Do you really think anyone would believe me? Are you that stupid?"   
"Hey! I-"  
"FOUND YOU!" Billy came running over with Walter, Barbara and Eric right behind him. He noticed Tom standing next to her. "Aww, I see you were too distracted by Riddle to stay in your hiding place." He added mockingly. The others started to giggle at his comment but Chara didn't care. "No, I got bored and you weren't gonna find me anytime soon so I decided to come out, then I saw Tom and started telling him how bad you are at hide and seek. It's not even fun to win if you have to wait an hour till someone finds you!" she almost yelled.  
"It didn't take me an hour!"   
"It would have if I hadn't come out of my hiding place."  
Billy glared at her for a few seconds, then turned around and walked away.  
"Who wants to play catch with me till we get called to lunch?" Barbara asked them.   
"Me!" Walter and Eric answered in unison.  
"I think I'm gonna go to my room." Chara said more to herself than to anyone else and headed to the entrance. She noticed that someone was following her and of course she knew who it was, so she continued faster, took two steps at a time, ran through the corridor and quickly closed the door to her room behind her. She told herself that it was stupid to be scared of him and he wasn't following her intentionally, he just wanted to go back to his room.   
Chara sat down on her bed, causing it to make a squeaking noise, to calm down a little. She still tried to find a rational explanation for what had happened. She was floating, hovering just above the ground. And she wasn't crazy, Tom saw it too. His reaction was really weird when she came to think about it. He said 'I'm not doing this' and he was angry and maybe a little annoyed? Everyone else would have been confused, astounded or scared. Chara just couldn't understand. What was he doing there anyway? He was rarely ever outside.   
She looked at her pocket watch. They would be called to lunch in 20 minutes.   
She got up, sat down at the desk and started reading again. She was very hungry and exhausted and she just noticed that she was shaking. She had been looking forward for trick and treating but now she just felt like sleeping really early today.  
Chara froze for a second as she heard the door behind her open and close again. She turned around to see Tom standing in the middle of her room with a serious expression on his face.   
"How about knocking before you just enter someone else's room?!" Chara said while standing up. He didn't answer, he just stared at her.   
"Okay... what do you want from me?"   
"An explanation." He said, in a demanding way.  
"I-um- I don't know what you're talking about." Chara tried not to show that she was a little frightened but as he took a step forward she couldn't help but to back away.   
"Do you think I'm stupid?! You know exactly what I mean! Talk. NOW."  
"I don't know what you want me to say. I- I don't know what happened- or how I did that. I'm just happy that I didn't get hurt ... and that feeling- I felt so-"  
"I don't care about how you felt. Does stuff like that-weird stuff- does that happen to you a lot?" He interrupted.  
Chara tried not to break eye contact with him but he was really intimidating.   
"I'm not sure. Sometimes. Maybe... I don't know." She mumbled.   
Tom didn't seem happy with that answer.   
"Oh come on. Stuff you can't explain, things that happen for your benefit, objects floating or appearing somewhere you didn't put them, stuff like that?" He was definitely annoyed with Chara and yes things like that had happened to her but should she tell him?   
"Why do you ask me this?"   
"This is a waste of time, you're oblivious." He gave her one last look of annoyance before he headed for the door.  
"It's happening to you too, isn't it?" This made him stop, he just stood there for a few seconds, facing the door, probably trying to decide if he should tell her or not. Chara didn't know how to feel about this. Were they different from the other children? Of course, she had noticed some weird things that had happened around her but after today she couldn't just ignore it anymore. The fact that Tom could be the same made her feel better somehow.  
"It's not just 'happening' to me. I can control it to some extent." He was facing her again. Chara was sick of standing now and sat down on her bed.   
"You can control what? What is 'it'?" She questioned.   
"I would say it's some kind of power. I thought I was the only one with this power."   
"Is that why you never do anything with other children?" She regretted asking this question right away because Tom just glared at her.   
"No, I just don't want to waist my time with others, most of them are so dull." She had to agree with him there. It wasn't always fun talking to other children here and some of them just never got anything the teacher was trying to teach them, which was annoying.  
"If you can control it, can you show me?" She asked him eagerly. He thought about it for a second, then started to look around, seemingly searching for something. His eyes landed on Chara's books on the table. Tom's eyes met Chara's again and the book started to fly around the room. He didn't even move his hands or look at the books.   
"This is so amazing! How are you doing that?" Chara got up and tried to catch her favourite book but they were too high for her to reach.   
"I'm just thinking about it. I command them to fly in my mind and with enough concentration, they start doing what I want them to do." Everything he said was emotionless. Chara couldn't understand how he wasn't amazed by his power.   
"I want to try!" She pulled her pocket watch out, put it on the bed and started staring at it. Nothing happened. Confused, she looked over to Tom and expected him to tell her what she had to do.   
"I guess I'm just more powerful than you." He was smirking now, it was pretty obvious that he loved being better at this.   
"Maybe I just have to practice a little." She looked back at the watch, trying to concentrate.   
"LUNCH IS READY, I want everyone down here in less than five minutes!"   
Miss Lester's yelling broke Chara's concentration and Tom's apparently too, the books hit the ground and his smirk was gone again. They both went for the door without picking up the books. Chara looked at Tom with a big smile on her face which he didn't return.


	4. Float!

Chara didn't even bother trying to get to her favourite seat first, Tom was walking towards it without even throwing her an intimidating look. It was like he knew she wouldn't try it. So she just followed him and took the seat next to his. Everyone who had to help prepare lunch was walking in and out of the kitchen and a few children were already seated.   
Chara and Tom didn't talk during lunch, she tried to think of something to say but all that came to her mind were questions that she shouldn't ask while other children were there.   
Something Chara didn't understand was Tom's behaviour. He was always so angry and annoyed by everything. But why was he in such a bad mood all the time when he had these amazing powers? Chara couldn't stop smiling, she was amazed and a little scared that she would wake up to discover it was a dream. This just didn't feel real. She was a little discouraged because she wasn't able to let the pocket watch float but she would try again after lunch.   
Chara glanced over at Tom, he was a mystery to her, she had so many questions about this power and about him but she was too scared to ask any of them. Would he help her control it? He seemed so angry at her but then again he was always angry and aggressive. Maybe he hated her. Maybe he didn't want her to have this power too.   
She decided to stop thinking about Tom and focus on positive things. Chara was excited to get back to her room and practice letting things float. Her thoughts were interrupted by Miss Lester.   
"Remember that you all should be ready to go in an hour. We'll meet in the backyard where you're going to be separated into four groups. We will be back for dinner. Happy Halloween everyone!"  
"Don't forget to bring your dishes to the kitchen." Mrs Cole added.  
Chara had completely forgotten about Halloween. She didn't want to go, she wanted to practice!   
Everyone was getting up but to Chara's surprise, Tom was still sitting next to her. He was normally the first person to leave the room. She noticed that he had barely touched his food. Sure it didn't really taste good but here in Wool's Orphanage everyone was happy when they had enough.   
He suddenly looked at her, as if he knew what she was thinking, he had a smirk on his face but then it changed to a face of agony, he put his hands on his stomach and yelled over the loud chatter: "M-Mrs Cole? I don't feel so good"   
She immediately came over, put her hand on his forehead and looked at his plate with a concerned look.   
"Oh dear, you haven't eaten anything! I don't think you have a high temperature though, where does it hurt?"  
"My stomach, I couldn't get myself to eat more." he looked at Mrs Cole as if the pain was about to kill him.  
"Please go to your room, I will ask Martha to take a look at you and in the meantime I want you to rest and drink as much as possible. I'm afraid I can't let you walk through London today, I'm sorry. Chara please be a dear and bring Tom's plate to the kitchen for him"  
She left the food hall in a hurry probably to search for Martha.   
Chara couldn't believe this. He was obviously not sick! He just didn't want to go out! She didn't want to either. Chara was actually a little impressed by how easy it was for him to convince Mrs Cole that he was sick.

Tom was already at the door to his room when she caught up to him.   
"You're not sick, are you?!" She said when he opened the door.  
"What makes you think that?" He questioned innocently.   
"Too bad I can't go out today, I hope you have fun though." He added smirking.  
"I don't want to go either!"   
"That's not my problem." And with that, he closed the door. She wanted to go in but wasn't really sure what he would do. He was very scary sometimes. Tom probably didn't think about entering her room once, earlier today. Uncertain if this was the right decision she touched the doorknob and entered slowly.   
Chara realised that she had never been in his room before, to no surprise it looked nearly identical to hers just without a mirror. Tom was sitting on his bed with a book in his hand, ignoring her. She had actually expected him to yell at her or worse. With a little more confidence she closed the door behind her and just as she did so she felt something heavy hit her head.   
"What the-"   
Then another thing hit her shoulder, she tried to shield herself from whatever attacked her with her hands. Looking up she saw 5 rocks floating above her head and they then immediately came crashing down on her.   
"I don't remember inviting you in."  
Tom was standing now, with an intimidating look on his face.   
"I-I'm sorry" she was a little angry because he had entered her room too without an invitation.   
"Do you think we're friends now? Do you actually believe that I would show you how it works? That I would care or like that you might have the same powers as me?" He had taken a few steps forward while taking and Chara pressed herself against the door getting more scared of him with every step.  
"N-No! I- I was just-" he was right in front of her now.   
"Stop stuttering. It's annoying."   
"I was hoping you could help me come up with an excuse so I can stay here too." Chara was trying to sound confident but she was obviously shaking.  
"Why would I do that? Have I ever given you a reason to believe I would enjoy helping you?" He stared at her for a few more seconds before turning around walking towards his bed.   
Chara was just happy that he didn't attack her with more rocks so she opened the door to leave.  
"You know I actually thought you were more intelligent than other children, turns out you're just as dull" Tom said, not looking up from the book that he had just started reading again.   
"I-" Chara started.  
"Out of everyone here you have the best excuse to stay. You better talk to Miss Lester, she is way easier to persuade. Now, leave." He still didn't look at her.  
"I won't be bothering you again! I promise!" with that, she left the room as quickly and quietly as she could.  
Chara felt stupid. Why hadn't she thought of this? It was so obvious what she had to do! She ran down the stairs and saw Miss Lester walking into Mrs Cole's room. Chara was trying to think of what exactly she would say to her and rubbed her eyes intensely so they would look red as if she had cried. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Miss Lester come out of the room and Chara trotted towards her with her head down.  
"Miss Lester?" she said, still looking at the floor.  
"What is it Chara? Are you okay?" Miss Lester went on both knees, so she could be face to face with Chara.   
"I- I can't go." she tried her best to look very sad and managed to make herself tear up.  
"Oh dear, why not? You were so excited a few days ago."  
"I can't stop crying. I keep asking myself why my parents abandoned me. Who are they? Was I not good enough? Do they hate me? I-" Miss Lester interrupted her with a hug. Chara was surprised and didn't really know how to react. She just stood there.  
"Oh, Chara!" Miss Lester let her go to look at her face and wiped a few tears away.   
"Let's go to your room and talk a little. Would you like that?" She gave Chara a reassuring smile. Actually, Chara had hoped this wouldn't take long but she couldn't just say no.  
"I guess." Chara muttered.  
Miss Lester had held Chara's hand all the way to her room which made her really uncomfortable but she continued to pretend that she was sad. They were sitting on Chara's bed and had been talking about her parents for about half an hour. Miss Lester kept saying things like how she should look forward to the future not back to her past and she shouldn't care about things she didn't know. Chara had no idea what to say next, she didn't actually care about her parents.   
"So you don't think going out with everyone else would make you feel better?" Miss Lester spoke up and gave her a small smile.  
"No." Chara answered hoping this conversation would be over soon.  
"But it might be a distraction and I promise you we'll have so much fun you'll forget all about the bad feelings this day brings for you." Chara could tell that Miss Lester really cared about her.  
"I would prefer not be around other children today. They- they can be so mean." Chara sobbed trying her best to make it look real.  
"What? Who is mean to you?" Miss Lester seemed surprised.  
"Uum- I don't-"  
"Please, I won't tell them that you said anything" Miss Lester took Chara's left hand in both of her hands and added,  
"If you don't tell me I can't make it better."  
Chara didn't know where this was going, she just kept on telling lie after lie. The most believable person to bully her was-  
"Betty." Chara said, avoiding eye contact.   
"That's what I suspected. Thanks for trusting me with this, Chara." She said while squeezing Chara's hand.   
"But I don't feel comfortable leaving you her all by yourself, crying in your room. I'm telling you, this will be a lot of fun!" Miss Lester gave her a big beautiful smile.  
"N-no! Please, I will be distracting myself with my new book! I can't go! I won't go! Please don't make me!" Chara broke into tears again and freed her left hand from Miss Lester to be extra dramatic.   
"Oh dear, I'm not making you do anything! I'm sorry, Chara. But please promise me that you'll tell me whenever you're feeling down or you have a problem. I'm always here for you. I want you to know that. You can always talk to me." She got up from the bed and added,   
"I have to leave with the others soon, maybe you'll change your mind but it's okay if you don't." And with that, she left Chara's room.  
Finally. She was alone. Chara wiped her tears away and got up to pick up the books that laid on the floor.  
She should feel bad about all that lying. Miss Lester was so nice and understanding, she had only been here for a month but Chara already liked her more than all the other adults. But she didn't feel guilty for lying to her. Chara got what she wanted and it felt good to get away with lying.

The others had gone out an hour ago. That's how long Chara had been staring at her pocket watch. She sat on the bed trying to make the watch fly through the room. It hadn't worked yet and she got more impatient by the minute. What was she doing wrong? She imagined the watch floating and concentrated so hard that her eyes were dry because she forgot to blink. She thought about what Tom had said: 'I'm just thinking about it. I command them to fly in my mind and with enough concentration, they start doing what I want them to do'  
Command? What did that even mean? She closed her eyes for a few seconds and tried to calm herself.   
"Float." Chara commanded.

Nothing happened. 

"I SAID FLOAT YOU STUPID PIECE OF JUNK!" She was so angry and disappointed that she got up and kicked the chair so hard that it flew against the wall. Thankfully it didn't break. All her anger was concentrated on the watch even though she was the one not being able to make it float. She still blamed the watch. Tom had done it with books and rocks, maybe that was easier. She got a book from the desk and slammed it on the bed.

A few more hours flew by and she had tried it with every object in the room, she had gone outside to get sticks, stones and some flowers and she even tried gestures with her hand and muttering magic words she knew from books. Everyone was back from their trip through the neighbourhood and Chara could hear them chatting about how much fun they had.  
Chara felt like crying but they had just been called to dinner and she surely didn't want another awkward conversation with Miss Lester. Her room was a mess because she had kicked and thrown everything around in her rage.  
She wasn't as early as normally for dinner and a lot of children were already seated including Tom of course. He was in her favourite seat, she might never be able to sit at the end of that table again just because he liked it. This made her even angrier than she already was but she didn't say anything and just sat down next to him.   
"So how was your day?" He said with an unbearable amount of smugness.  
He probably heard her yelling and the noise of things hitting a wall.   
"Shut-"   
"Chara! Where have you been? We missed you!" Dennis Bishop had interrupted her and sat down next to her.  
"Dennis-" she started.  
"You normally love getting out of here right? Are you sick or something?" His brown eyes met her blue ones but she looked away quickly.  
"I wasn't feeling so good but now I'm better" she glanced at Tom for a second before she continued.   
"I slept the whole time you were gone"

Dinner had felt like it took ages to end but now she was finally back in her room. Dennis had kept talking about things Chara really didn't care about and she regretted sitting next to Tom because just his presence made her angry and maybe a little envious. How come he was so good at this and Chara wasn't? It just wasn't fair. Maybe he had caught her when she fell without realising it and she didn't have any powers after all. She was done with this day so she decided to go to sleep early, normally she would read until she was really tired. Chara didn't even bother cleaning up the mess she had made, she just changed into her sleepwear and went to bed.

Chara had a feeling of waking up. It was dark. She wasn't in her bed, she was standing. It was so dark she couldn't even see her hand when she held it right in front her face. There was a noise, maybe voices. She walked towards them. It got louder and louder with every step. It was more of a hissing, it was still too dark to see anything. She was in some kind of empty space. She continued to walk towards the hissing noise and suddenly there was screaming too. There was crying and screaming and it became so loud it was unbearable. Chara fell to her knees and tried to cover her ears but the mix of hissing, screaming and crying just got louder. She closed her eyes and yelled.  
Stop! Leave me alone!  
For some reason, she had the feeling that there was one person doing this to her. Suddenly she couldn't breathe anymore, she opened her eyes and tried to yell again but it didn't work. The noises were still unbearable to listen to. Just before she thought she would die it stopped. Everything stopped. It was quiet.   
Hello? Is someone here?  
She asked hopefully. Was it over? All of the sudden she could see something again. But the light wasn't coming from above or some kind of obvious source. It was her, it was like she was glowing. Pain. She looked at her right arm which had started hurting. 'pathetic' was carved into her skin. More pain. She looked at her left hand. 'idiot' 

Pain on her left arm 'worthless'.

'alone' just above her knee.

Her legs hurt. 'unimportant' 

'annoying' Her belly. 'stupid' 

Face. 'unwanted' 

There was blood coming from every limb of her body. I was so painful that she couldn't stand anymore. She dropped into a puddle of her own blood. More and more cuts appeared on her body. 'helpless' 'sad' 'unnecessary' 'incapable' 'oblivious'  
She stopped reading them.

 

Chara called for help.  
But nobody came.

 

She literally jumped out of her bed. She was crying. This was the worst nightmare she had ever had. Chara was still scared, her heart was pounding very fast.   
There was a sudden movement next to her and she leapt back to her bed, she could make out fast objects flying through her room. The light was dim but she instantly recognised who was standing in the middle of the room.  
"Tom?!"


	5. The Witching Hour

"Tom?!"

Several objects hit the floor and made Chara flinch at the noise. Was he going to attack her with flying rocks again? She crawled back on her bed and, because she urged to get as far away from Tom as possible, pressed herself against the wall. She wanted to yell at him, to throw something but she was too afraid to do anything. It was so dark that she could only see his silhouette. He was standing in the middle of the tiny room, facing Chara.

The thought that she was still dreaming crossed her mind. That dream had felt so real. Chara just noticed that there were tears rolling down her cheeks but she didn't wipe them away. It was as if she was paralysed by fear. The feeling of the cool wall against her back made her feel more secure but she did not dare to move. Maybe she was still stuck in that nightmare and all she had to do was wake up.

The only sound that filled the room, was the noise of rain drumming against the window. The streetlight in front of the window was only lighting a small part of the room.

What did Tom want from her? Chara's heart was racing and she could feel her pulse, to her it sounded so loud she was afraid Tom might be able to hear it. He took a step forward, the streetlight outside was now illuminating his face, he was grinning. It looked very odd, she had never seen him smile like this before and it made her even more afraid of him.

"W-What have I ever d-done to you?" Chara managed to ask while sobbing.

The more she realised that this wasn't a dream the more anxiety started to build up inside of her. The nightmare couldn't have been his doing, could it? No, that was ridiculous. He may be able to make things float but getting inside her head like this? That would surely be impossible.

"Stop crying already. I came here to help." he explained in a monotone voice.

"You're lying. You wouldn't help me with anything." Chara said.

"Well, I was intrigued. Only had to scare you a little bit ... to test my theory." he argued matter-of-factly.

"What theory?"

"Look around. I didn't do this." Tom said and kicked something in front of him towards Chara.

Still not wanting to move closer to him, she stretched her neck to see what he meant and although the room was still very dark she could see that he had kicked a small rock. Actually, there were a lot of objects on the floor and at first, she thought this was just the mess she had left behind after practising but then she remembered how they were flying through the room when she had woken up. Chara also spotted her books which she hadn't left on the floor.

"Are you telling me I made them float? " Chara asked, slowly calming down.

Tom didn't seem to mean her any harm, she told herself. There was no need to be scared of him.

"Before you woke up these things were flying around the room, even attacking me." He told her while taking another step, he was standing right in front of the bed now.

Chara should probably have been intimidated or afraid of him, but she felt a rush. That rush she had felt when she fell from that tree and was hovering above the ground. It made her feel as if nothing bad could ever happen again.

"You're not lying to me, are you? It wasn't you?" she questioned, trying to hide how much she hoped it was true.

"What would be the point of lying to you?" he asked annoyed.

"I- I don't know. But how was I able to do this in my sleep but not when I tried practising it for hours?"

"Fear." His lips were forming a smirk as he continued, "I knew I only had to scare you a little bit."

"A LITTLE? I thought I was about to die! I- wait. You? ... Did you make me have that nightmare?"

"Yes. I thought that was obvious."

A shiver crawled down Chara's spine.

"How are you even able to do that?" she sounded more impressed than scared.

"I don't really know myself."

Tom proceeded to sit down on the bed which made Chara calm down a great amount. Just the fact that he was not looking at her was comforting and it was even better that his back was facing her. She felt like she was able to move again but she remained pressed against the wall as there was no reason to get closer to Tom.

"I realised I could to that when we went to the countryside this summer. As you know I had to share a room with Stubbs and we don't really get along-" Tom started with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"I've never seen you get along with anyone." Chara interrupted him.

"Sure, but he is the most annoying idiot here. I would rather watch over the toddlers than spend time with him. See, I just wanted to be left alone after coming back from those boring trips but he would always want to play one of his silly games. He got so annoying that I thought I might burst of anger! Anyway, one night, when his snoring had once again woken me up, I went up to his bed with the intent to hurt him but I stopped myself because I didn't want to get into any trouble. Instead, I just imagined what I would like to do to him and after a while, he started to shake and cry out in pain. The next morning he told me that he had dreamed about me," Tom chuckled, " but he didn't want to tell me what the dream was about." He stopped talking and turned to face Chara.

"Of course I already knew all the details." he ended his story, smiling proudly.

She didn't know how to respond to this, so she just stared back at him with a blank expression. If he did this with more children than just Billy it would definitely explain those rumours of Tom hurting others.

Much to Chara's dismay, it didn't seem like Tom wanted to leave anytime soon, he got himself into a more comfortable position. Now, he was sitting cross-legged at the end of her bed while leaning against the wardrobe, still not taking his eyes off her.

"Do you do this ... often? Making somebody have a bad dream?" Chara asked when she couldn't bare the silence anymore.

"A few times. I wanted to practise." Tom answered and Chara was a little surprised by his honesty.

"Do you know there are rumours about you... hurting people?" she questioned hesitantly but he just ignored her and continued:

"I tried it on you before, actually more than once, but it didn't work."

Chara's heart skipped a beat and started racing again. That horrible grin was back on Tom's face and without thinking, Chara took her pillow and threw it at him.

"YOU CAME INTO MY ROOM WHILE I WAS SLEEPING!?"

Tom moved a little to the side so that the pillow wouldn't hit him, his face back to expressionless.

"That's what's bothering you about this?" he asked almost amused.

Chara starred at him for a few seconds while calming herself. It would only end badly for her if she kept yelling at him. Not to mention what Mrs Cole would do if she found Tom in Chara's room in the middle of the night. She still didn't understand why Tom had come over, he made it pretty clear that he didn't care about her even if they had the same powers.

"Have you seen my pocket watch?" she asked, wanting to change the topic.

The bemused smirk disappeared from his face and was replaced by a blank expression. He turned his head to look at the mess on the ground and reached out with his hand. There was a rattling noise and something landed in Tom's palm. He looked at it for a while then at Chara and threw it in front of her.

"Here."

She took it and immediately saw that it had been damaged, the glass had a crack, but it was still working. The time read 3:17.

"Tom, why are you awake at three o'clock?" Chara wondered.

He just kept staring at her with a puzzled look on his face.

"You stole that watch, didn't you?" Tom spoke in a darker voice than usual.

Yet again, he made Chara's heart race.

"What?! Of course not! What are you talking about? It was a gift!" she exclaimed defensively.

"Like all three of your books were gifts?"

"Yes! The new book was a gift from Winstanley! He owns that bookstore on Vauxhall Road!"

"Oh I believe that but what about the other books and the pocket watch?" Tom asked grinning.

"I- I got all my books from Winstanley... and the clock- the clock is from a man who sold his own handmade ones on the market." she said while trying not to break eye contact with Tom.

"You're not a good liar."

"Not true! Mrs Cole believed me!" Chara spat out without thinking. Tom looked as if he had won something and reached over to take the watch out of her hands. He looked at it while talking:

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. It's not like they would believe me that sweet, innocent Chara would do any wrong." he remarked mockingly. 

Feeling defeated, Chara stayed silent and just watched him examine the clock. When Tom opened it to look at the time she hoped he wouldn't notice the piece of paper that was put inside. But of course, he did.

"What's this? Chara, born: second May 1927." he read aloud and shot her a questioning look.

"That's what Mrs Cole found with me." Chara mumbled.

"Then where did you get your last name from?" Tom asked curiously.

"I got the old Matrons family name. Apparently, she wanted to adopt me but died a few months later." she explained.

He put the pocket watch down and focused on Chara again, it seemed like he waited for her to say something. He was so odd, but somehow she was intrigued by him. What was going on inside of his head? If he came here only to scare her and see if that triggered her powers, why was he still here?

"Why didn't you go out with everyone else for Halloween? What did you do ?" she tried starting a new conversation topic.

"I was reading the whole time but your ... outbursts kept distracting me. Also, I told you how stupid I think this tradition is and it's not like anyone else is doing it. Most people are so confused when we knock on their door asking for candy. It looks like we're beggars, I hate that." Tom told her annoyed.

"Yes, you're right. I've never seen other children 'trick or treating'. Why are we doing it?" Chara asked.

"It's something Mr Wool picked up in America."

"Oh, so it's more common there?"

"How am I supposed to know? I've never left England and you know that. Besides, I didn't come here to have a chat with you!" Tom growled.

"What did you come here for?" Chara snapped back at him.

He looked frustrated.

"I need to know if we've got the same kind of power. I've seen you move things through the air but what else can you do, or is that it? Is there something you're not telling me?" Tom said while inching closer to her. Chara backed away, not knowing what to tell him. She had only just realised that she could do extraordinary things but what else was she capable of? She had no idea.

"You know as much as I do. I would tell you if there was more I could do! Promise!" Chara tried to reassure him. "What else can you do?" she added more quietly.

Tom seemed to believe her, he didn't look angry anymore much rather excited that he probably had more powers than her. He came even closer so that he was sitting in the middle of the bed. He closed his eyes and stretched his right hand out, his eyebrows furrowed. Chara took this moment to have a better look at him without his normally intimidating stare. Tom's dark hair was messy and a total contrast to his pale skin. Even though both of them were sitting he was a bit taller than her. Both of his hands were covered in scratches and she wondered what he had done. He was quite nice to look at, she thought to herself. Suddenly, Tom opened his eyes and Chara's heart skipped a beat. They were staring at each other for a few seconds, she could feel her face heat up and a weird feeling spread through her tummy. Tom then focused on his palm, where a bluish light appeared. It dazzled Chara and she had to look away for a moment.

"Wow," she exclaimed in awe, "this is amazing!"

When her eyes got used to the sudden brightness she saw that is was actually a ball of light, it looked like a tiny blue and white sun was floating just above Tom's hand.

"This is how I read late at night when I don't feel like sleeping." he told her, his eyes still looking at the ball of light.

"I wish I could do that," Chara admitted, "Can I touch it?"

"Try it" Tom answered with a smirk. Chara got closer to the glowing ball with her hand, she had expected it to get warmer but it was as if the light had no source. Her hand just went right through the ball and she didn't feel anything.

"I can make it look different too." he said, closing his eyes once again. The light lost its brightness and the colour turned green, then grey and it got darker until it appeared black. Not completely black, it looked like the core was still white but dark, black clouds of mist had formed around it.

"Touch it now." Tom ordered.

Chara hesitated but slowly stretched out her hand again. It got colder the closer her hand came to the ball and when she touched it, what looked like a lightning bolt shot at her. She yelped as the sudden pain went through her whole body and pressed her hand against herself.

"That really hurt!" she said, glaring at Tom.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" he whispered, not taking his eyes away from the ball of light.

"It really is. How are you doing that?" Chara asked.

"If you think I'm going to teach you anything, you are very wrong." he said looking down at her, "Catch!"

The black ball came flying towards her face and out of reflex, she caught it with both of her hands. The pain was enormous, electricity flowed through every part of her body and she was unable to move. It felt like hours had passed when she was suddenly free of the pain. The black light had disappeared, she opened her eyes and saw Tom had stood up and was walking towards the door, kicking some things on the floor in the process. Chara's body started to relax, it was a relieve to see him go and she noticed how exhausted and tired she really was. But then he stopped right in front of the door and turned to face her again. He opened his mouth to say something but what came out weren't exactly words, it sounded more liking hissing. Chara wouldn't believe these noises came from Tom if she couldn't see his mouth moving. When he stopped he just looked at her expectantly.

"What was that?!" she asked irritated.

"Nevermind." he said and left the room at once.

She was honestly just happy that Tom was gone now, so she got her pillow from the end of the bed and laid down to sleep.


End file.
